Historian, Former Ambassador, Human Rights Activist

In KLM lounge at Schiphol. Having been given the choice of the Telegraph or Mail on the flight here, I feel compelled to note that the attacks on Gordon Brown over his eyesight are completely out of order. The media of course was quite happy with David Blunkett – blindness is evidently OK as long as it is populist right wing blindness.

One of my strange brushes with popular culture. About four years ago I was with Nadira in the then popular St James’ nightclub, when she started dancing in the incredibly sexy way only she can with a young man a good deal shorter than her, and a very great deal younger and better looking than me. I was a trifle annoyed, but he came and joined us for a drink and he was both friendly and very obviously more likely to be interested in me than Nadira. Nadira explained to me he was Stephen from Boyzone, whcih meant next to nothing to me. We saw him I think just once more, but he was very friendly, polite, unassuming, drank very little and showed no signs of drugs. He bought his round (a quality high up my judgemental list on men).

I have never knowingly listened to anything by Boyzone. I suppose now I ought to.

Perhaps I am incredibly cynical. But I have to say that the whole GB eyesight thing just stinks like a red herring put out there by GB’s own people in order to provide him with an established get out if he decides to bottle it before the next election. He seems so risk averse that I just can’t believe he’d go through with it. It must just be a question of him lining up some big payoff like head of the world bank or IMF and then jumping ship.

I am not a medical person but isn’t it unwise to fly if you have a partially detached retina – wouldn’t that make jetting off to high level meetings a bit tricky?

Why the sympathy for Brown? Does he possess or show any for the dead Palestinian boy run over and left to bleed to death by the IDF 10 days ago or for one incinerated in Iraq like Ali Abbas or for this poor little one in Aghanistan?

Having a pop at someone because they mention business class travel smacks of desperation. Jesus, some people will reach for _anything_ … I bet the anonymous coward offering that criticism doesn’t have a go at his own Great Leaders for traveling business class or better.

When has Craig Murray ever pleaded poverty at us, anyway? I know he’s asked people to buy his books and contribute to election campaign funds, but what author/ political candidate has not, ffs? I imagine if the said author/ candidate _didn’t_ need funds, that too would be bad, on account of their being independently wealthy. wtf once again!

You’re right about Gordon Brown. There isn’t any doubt he has had, since his student days, problems with his eyes. Right wing zealots demand to know about what tablets he may be taking, then complain when he releases information about his eye condition. There ‘s no pleasing some people.